Pretty basic utility-van/truck with a very well-designed scissorlift/cherrypicker. Really no special parts, except for maybe the electricity panels (no stickers, yay!). The colour scheme is well-balanced, mostly yellow (like every Lego construction related vehicle in that era) but the red decals on the truck make it stand out a bit more. They probably added the red colour to the truck to balance out the red fences on the trailer (as far as I know, those fences weren't available in another colour back in the day) but it works out great. Where most trucks/vans in Legoland are typically fully open (pickuptruck) or closed (boxvan), this one is quite unique with the half-open truckbed. The trailer is state of the art. The warningsigns at the back that double as stabilizers, they fences with warninglights that fit perfectly under the platform. And then the scissor meganism. Simple in so many ways, yet so effective and recognisable. Another detail that I really like: the truck doesn't have a standard baseplate but is built with regular plates and bricks (and some wheel arches of course). Also: the truck has basic small car-tyres, not the big trucktyres that were used in later Lego models. And where the van has tyres with some profile, the trailer has the slightly smaller slicks. It's all in the detail, well done. Only minor designflaw that I want to put out: the wheels on the trailer aren't in the middle. It makes the back-end of the trailer look heavy, the overhang is to big. Not much they could do to fix it, although I'd like to suggest to replace the 4x1 yellow plate at the front of the bed by a 4x2 plate. Maybe move up the trailer hitch with it. And a really really small detail: the platform is still quite high of the ground when fully lowered. No real safe way to get up/in there by the minifigure. ;) Playability is good, yet the usage is limited in a Lego town I guess. Lego doesn't have lightposts of other electricity cables to maintain or fix.

This set in my opinion is a classic. Not only does it look good but it offers some excellent play time and is very versatile.

The Vehicle

The truck looks unlike most other Lego Town trucks of the period. It's quite long and the yellow and red theme is carried down to the wheel colours. The front has a light bar with headlights and grill and the neat bonnet is a sloped roof brick. Few other trucks had this style. The roof brick, doors and rear cargo area are all red. The roof has yellow lights and a radio antenna. The sides bricks of the cargo bay are printed with the rare electricity logo and the back is big enough to stow all kinds of tools and additions you might want to add. The roof half covers the bay.

The trailer is very well though out. The base is simple with four wheels and a ball attachment bar. The rear has two signs that swivel outwards to form warning signs and cleverly double as stabilisers. You can change the signs over for right or left-hand driving too. The two road barriers double as sides for the trailer and prevent the rotating platform from moving in transit. The elevation mechanism is fragile but is very well designed and looks great as you raise and lower the platform. The whole platform assembly turns on a turntable, but you do need to remove the side barriers first. The platform goes fairly high and the barrier bricks double as tool stowage when the man is up there. Both the truck and trailer are excellently designed and combine to form a great package.

The Minifigure

Typical hardworking MF with blue dungarees, blue legs and blue baseball cap. Again a hard hat might have been useful. Tools are a hammer and spanner.

Personal Development

This set is a classic and a must-have addition to any works department of any town. I also put the camera from Set 6381 Motor Speedway on top of the platform to make a make-shift camera truck. I agree that Lego should have gone on and developed more on the electricity theme, it could have been an excellent theme. The only problem is a lack of streetlamps and pylons to actually work on but imagination can provide those. This is a very useful and practical set.

I got this at Epcot center at Disney world in 1989 in the Lego building. Good thing I had this for the wait in the airport. No iPhone, iPad or anything like this back then.... Just your imagination ;)

Loved how the elevator moved up and down.

When I firt laid my eyes in this set I knew it was something else. Got it online and started counting the days till it arrived. And it proved to be way better than expected!

This little set is amazingly filled up with ingeneous details and pleasant surprises. It also looks very good with these colors and, therefore, is a must be for every Lego fan out there.

For me, the best features in this set are:

1- The lift. The scissor mechanism is just so simple, so clever and so nice that it should be enough for everyone to want to have this set.

2- The signs. Folding signs to help redirect traffic? Awesome.

3- Two piece vehicle. It simply multiply the set's playability to extremes. You could run arround Lego Town just with the truck and leave the lift in a construction site, or whatever.

4- The color scheme. I don't know about you, but for me, red and yellow, when cleverly mixed, are just beautiful. And this set's designers sure got the mixing right.

There's just one problem I see in this set, and that is that it haven't been used by Lego back then when it was first released to start a whole line of sets with the electricity theme.

Well, I'd be one that'd buy every single set in a theme like that...

Thanks for reading!

This is a nice vehicle. The colour scheme is good, the van is well-made, the lifting mechanism is a clever design and it comes with those little pre-printed sign tabs. The only thing missing is a street-light. Lego made sets of trees, flowers, sign-posts, fences and the like but the one thing which was overlooked was a set of street-lights. I'm sure Lego could have made some nice-looking curved or swan-neck lamp post pieces. But anyway, this is an original creation and well worth tracking down.